Truth or Consequences
by Pen to Paper Writer
Summary: Alexis is hiding something big from her father and Kate. She's stuck in a situation she'll never get out of. This story started from the opening scene in 7x14 Ressurection. One-Shot... no longer!
1. Chapter 1

She is up in her room and as she dresses for her day. She makes sure that nothing can be seen under her street clothes by her dad or Kate. She hears her grams talking about her play and the part she just landed and decides that now is the time to make a hasty exit from the loft. If she doesn't do it now she'll be late for her 10 am appointment. She sees her grandmother bow and say to her dad,

"I am deeply in your debt."

"Yes, deeply, but if you'd like to start paying rent…"

"No, no, no! I mean I owe you a debt of gratitude!"

Her son says "Oh" with disappointment.

"If you had not urged me to take this audition, I would have never gotten this part. Now I'm off to my wardrobe fitting. Bye!"

As Alexis hits the bottom step and says "Bye" to her grams. Who returns the departing wish. Now she hopes she can get away without the third degree from her dad, but she's not that lucky.

"Where are you off to? Rick asks his daughter who looks a little hurried as she throws her messenger bag over her shoulder.

"Oh, I signed up for an escort service and I have to meet with a client."

"What! For a wha…"

"I just wanted to see if you were listening" she tosses in a nervous giggle and walks towards him. "I'm going to the library to study." _If they only knew what was really going on._

"Not cool!" Rick says to her. "So not cool."

Alexis walks up to him and kisses him on his cheek. She really needs to throw them off completely and sell this to make it seem normal so she leans in and kisses Kate on the cheek as well taking her by surprise. "Bye Kate."

And it worked. "Mmm Bye bud!" Kate says totally stunned by the affection she has just shown her.

Alexis turns and heads for the door. As she does she hears her dad say "A goodbye kiss? When did that start?"

Kate watches as Alexis leaves and shuts the door, as she does she tells Rick "Just now. Yeah, I'm just as surprised as you are…."

This is the last thing Alexis hears as the door closes completely. She leans back against the door and lets out an unsteady breath. She hates to deceive them. But she really has no choice. Foolishly she had answered an ad placed by what at the time she thought was the answer to her problems. It had been over a year since she made the biggest mistake of her life. She had gone in search of a way to pay off her lease for an apartment that she no longer stayed at, settle her student loans she had accumulated and pay off Pi's debt that he straddled her with after he left her.

The problem was the arrangement she had entered into. While at first, it was fine, it had changed quickly thereafter. She was hired by basically men who were honestly looking for a date for dinner or maybe to go to a current play on Broadway or an event that required a distinct caliber of person for accompaniment which she had mastered and could provide. It was a win-win situation. After a month of being wined and dined, she had agreed to something longer with the agency thinking that what she was exposed to at first would stay that way in the future. She had been wrong.

Her first indication to what faced her was when she was asked to a simple dinner. The meal went fine, but then the tables turned against her and she was cornered into her dates hotel room after the meal ended. She had thought that he was going to end the date with her being paid for her services for the meal, but he had other ideas. He had told her that he had given her a great night out and he had expected some gratification in return. She tried to leave but as she did he told her that if she did leave he would spread the word to his friends, who happened to be well-paying clients of hers that she was a tease and would not be asked to attend anything with them in the future. He would also report her to her escort service for non-compliance of her duties for which she would forfeit everything she had made since she started working for them. She was stuck because she had been so naïve.

And this is where she is now, walking away from the two people she loves the most, her father and her stepmother. She finds it ironic now that she has to go and meet with a client who she knows will need to be satisfied sexually. She is glad that she was able to pull off her slip up about being an escort with them. If they only knew the truth. She only wishes that she listened to her father before her life included Pi. She walks to the elevator and as she does she waits to remove her top to reveal her sexy lace top showing off her assets until she's safely in a taxi heading to meet her client. She regrets what she has become now…


	2. Chapter 2

Rick could see that she was not herself most of the time. When he went to her room earlier to talk he found it empty and her bed had not been slept in. She had always called to tell him when she was not going to be home, and he was starting to see a pattern develop.

She had way too many close calls. The most recent was when her latest "date" decided not to pay her. She demanded that she be paid for what she offered, but her date kept telling her that he was not satisfied with what he received from her. Instead of causing a scene in the hotel lobby, she had brushed it off as a loss and proceeded to walk out. Not a smart move on her part. He grabbed her by her bicep and pulled her back to him. He was going to explain why he was unhappy. If she was quick she could listen to him and then leave without causing the hotel staff to raise any concerns. She felt like a common hooker, something that she'd never want to feel again in her life. So, she listened to his reasoning and left anyway.

She remembers when Kate was taken from her father. He was inconsolable, heartbroken without her. She had been taken by 3XK aka Jerry Tyson and when she found out her problems were so very insignificant to her then. She had received a call from him and went right home to see if she could comfort him when he needed her. She was in the middle of a date who had taken her to see Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre on 55th. She bowed out gracefully as she was taught and made her apologies to her date telling him that there was an emergency. He understood.

If she played her cards right she could be back home in less than fifteen minutes. The cab ride went better than she had planned. When she returned to the loft her dad was still trying to get the ink off his fingers from his arrest.

"Dad, what happened?

"Pumpkin, Kate was taken by Jerry Tyson, and I don't know if I'll ever see her again."

"Dad, you will, she won't ever leave you, she loves you!"

Without even thinking she wanted to tell him everything that had happened since her blunder with Pi. She needed to come clean, but something stopped her. Could she really want this kind of life?

The question was burning in her mind. But she had no way to get away from this agency. It was like an addiction. Once they called she could not resist the ease of the money they offered. So, she went.

Xx

The NYPD had started up something new. They were targeting men who had women show up for their every need, but they were always two steps behind the agencies who had people watching for a change with what was going on.

Alexis knew about the NYPD and their efforts to trap women trying to make a living being an escort. She had been extra vigilant when she had accepted each job knowing that they were looking for a higher class of escort. She had never thought about being found out and thought she was safe. So, while she was cautious, she had checked and rechecked each and every one of her dates before she had committed to being their escort.

The sting that they set up was nothing that she had expected. While she was able to make some friends at the agency (there were only a few) she had never thought that she'd be caught. She had been given the warning by someone that she was close to at the agency. Paula had told her that the sting was on at the Marriott hotel. She had checked her messages and knew that she was going to The Pierre on Central Park South nowhere near the sting that was in progress at the Marriott. She had entered the Pierre and while she was fervent to meet with her date, something felt off for some reason.

She had met with her date and had a pleasant dinner and a round of sex that she had come to expect with a man like him. He was a passionate and considerate lover, but when he was done so was she. She had left his room and again something felt off to her. She pressed the elevator button to head to the lobby, the doors opened and she entered the car. When she arrived on the ground floor she was met with a man who was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. Nothing that the hotel would accept as adequate attire. He moved with her as she left the lift and then she became well aware that there was no one at the front desk or anyone waiting in the lobby.

"Miss, would you come with me please?"

"I can't really. If I do go with you I will be late meeting with my friend" Alexis knew a cop when she saw him.

"I'm sure that your friend will understand." He told her firmly.

She had no other option left and she was led off to a second group of men, but these men were more prepared for her excuses.

"Miss…."

"Castle!" The second she used her real last name was when she knew that they were part of the sting operation. She had no choice but to go willingly and she did. She thought about what her family would think about the mess she had become a part of as she was led away. Because with a detective as a stepmother, she knew that Kate would be the first to find out what she was involved in…

 **A/N: Due to overwhelming reviews, (which I do appreciate so much) I will add more to this story. But I'm not too sure that this chapter is what you the reader wanted. I hope that it is! Updates will be slow in coming due to the open stories I have now. I do apologize in advance. I also want to point out that this will be short, 5 or 6 chapters at the most.**

 **P2P**


	3. Chapter 3

When she reached her final destination, she wished she was anywhere else but where she sat now. Being handcuffed and led away from the hotel was something that was more humiliating than she had ever expected. And now she finds herself sitting on a wooden bench with one handcuffed to a large metal ring between the seats. She watches the comings and goings of the Midtown South Precinct. She sees people just like herself or stuck more than likely in the same situation. She notices one or two women who work for the same agency that she works for, and even they, who are more experienced than she is, have not been able to avoid the sting that they had in place.

"Miss Castle, my name is Lieutenant Miller. Now before I process your arrest for solicitation of prostitution I have a simple question to ask you. There will be only a yes or no answer and once the questions are asked there will be no changing your mind to change your answer. Understood?"

All Alexis can do is stare the man. Not knowing what he's going to ask is making her doubt what her answer might be. But she is stunned at what he asks her.

"Are you working for the Elegant Touch escort service?"

All Alexis can do is nod her answer, too ashamed to use her voice.

"Miss Castle, I thought I made myself perfectly clear. I need a yes or no answer. It has to be an audible response."

She wants to scream! This arrogant prick thinks that she is just a common hooker. But she's not. So, she answers him.

"Yes."

"Are you in any way related to a Detective Beckett?"

"Alexis, Do. Not. Answer. That!"

The second she heard the voice she knew there was no way out if this mess now.

"Lieutenant Miller, I am exercising my clients first amendment right. She will no longer answer any more of your questions without me being present."

"And you are sir?"

"I'm her attorney, Niall O'Reilly."

"Well Mr. O'Reilly, if you are preventing her from answering my questions I'm afraid that I'll be charging her then processing her for prostitution and solicitation."

"I'm not too sure that you will. My client was arrested and detained against her will. She is the daughter of the famed author Richard Castle, she is an honest, law-abiding, taxpaying citizen of this city and she was on her way to meet her friend and you had her detained and falsely arrested. Lieutenant tell me, what proof do you have to charge my client with this crime? Other than the fact that she just happened to be at the hotel during the sting you had in place?"

"She was leaving a client's room."

"Was she? I'd like to see your proof."

The lieutenant mumbles something barely inaudible almost at a whisper.

"I'm sorry sir, could you repeat that?"

"We have no proof."

"So she told you the truth and you make the mistake thinking that she was a common hooker. Tell me is she dressed as such?"

"Not really."

"Then I'll ask that you expunge the false arrest from her record, uncuff her from that bench, and get her a towelette for her fingers to remove the dried ink from her fingertips."

Alexis looks at her hands and sees the remains of the ink still on her fingers from her being fingerprinted.

"It will be a few minutes." He replied.

He leaves to take care of her false arrest and when he's out of earshot, Alexis starts with her stream of non-stop questions.

"Johnny, what the fuck are you doing? You're going to get me in deeper."

"Alexis, just play along. He's agreeing to this and once he finishes, we're gone. Just a little longer."

"I want to believe you, but you are not a lawyer! This will only end with both of us in jail!"

"Just sit there and say nothing Alexis. I'll have you released in no time. Just act accordingly."

She knows that now she is in so deep with the agency that she'll never get out. On top of being in bed with them (no pun intended) she had just agreed to have a law clerk pose as her attorney. She knows that he's the son of her boss at Elegant Touch and he will most likely be trying to get the other women out of here when she is free. But now she's going to be in their debt, so deep now. She dreads how much longer she'll be in this mess now. If anything, she wishes that it was her stepmother that had found out about the arrest tonight, then she would be done with this. Because there would be no way that her father would let her leave the loft ever again.

It is about twenty minutes later when Lt. Miller returns.

"Miss Castle, you are free to go. But a word of warning, if you are brought in on the same charges in the future, there will be no question about your profession. The charges will stick, I'll see to that."

Her faux attorney answers for her and she thinks that he will cause more trouble than she needs.

"Lieutenant is that a threat? Because if it is I will have your job!"

"No counselor, just a little friendly advice."

The cop turns and leaves thinking that a call to a certain detective will be in order. Maybe not right now, but if he gets jammed up sometime in the distant future….

Alexis and her attorney leave the precinct. His car is double parked in front of the station and they get in. She is driven directly back to the agency and when she gets there she knows that the fury she will face. None of it will be bearable.

"Alexis, you are one of my best! You have been doing this for over a year, and you get arrested finishing up on a simple dinner date?"

"My date went the way it should have. I was not expecting the vice squad to be at The Pierre! Hanna and Paula told me that there was a sting in place at the Marriott. How was I to know they were there?"

"Alexis, it's your job to know these things."

She only looked up at the ceiling in frustration. Her mind coming up with a way out of this….


	4. Chapter 4

She stares at the ceiling and now her eyes have become red-rimmed with tears. And they start flowing down her cheeks as she returns her gaze towards her boss. She's done with this whole thing. She has found a possible solution to her problem. When she looks her boss in the eye she starts talking directly at her. Not taking anything from her.

"Anne, it's not my job! You are the person who supposed to be watching out for me. I make you the money, so that's the way it should be. And another thing, I've been working for you for over a year-and-a-half now. This started out as a simple debt to be paid on a lease to an apartment which I no longer live at and a pile of mounting bills that was not my responsibility. Since that time, I think I have more than paid for what I owed. So much so that you have profited from my "dating" for the last nine months. Because I don't think that it has taken me more than nine months to pay back what I owed. So, you've been getting fat off me working for you for the last nine months making probably more than I owed in the first place! It ends now!"

Alexis turns and starts to walk away. But before she can actually make it to the exit of the office Anne starts talking again stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Not so fast there Alexis. You seem to forget that we have certain information to hold over you to keep you here. I'm sure that your father, the famous mystery writer and his girlfriend detective Katherine Beckett would love to find out about your extracurricular activities!"

"Do you know what Anne? You can go ahead and tell them everything because like I said before I'm done! I'm sick of this there's no need for me to be here doing this when I know and you know that everything has been paid off in full. So, do not threaten me!"

Anne can't believe what she's seeing or hearing. She needs to stop her from throwing it all away.

"Alexis, I'm sure we can work this out. Please come back."

Alexis keeps walking and from over her shoulder, she yells out….

"Not if your life depended on it!"

Xx

"Kate, I need to talk to you. I'm just curious if you've noticed anything off with Alexis? What I mean is she seems to me to be withdrawn from our family. She doesn't participate in family things anymore, we offered to bring her out to the Hamptons two weeks ago for the weekend and she declined to say she had to study for school. I'm not too sure that school it's her main concern right now. There's something else that's just eating at her from the inside and I don't know what it is."

"Babe, I've noticed at different times she just disappears. Oh, she does give an excuse as to why she's leaving, but she seems to be preoccupied. Now it could be school, but I really don't think the school would stress her out as much as I have seen her in the past couple of days."

"She texted me about 20 minutes ago saying she was coming home. Should we intervene? Maybe ask her some questions get to the bottom of what's really bothering her?"

"Rick as much as I'd like to help, I'm not her mother. Sure, I give her advice on all things that involve women, like boys, dates, you know the good stuff in life. But when it comes to parenting I yield to you. I will be there to support you in whatever direction you choose, but just give me a heads up before we start, so I know what to expect."

The lock unlocks and the door opens wide and in steps his daughter. He can tell that she's been crying and he immediately looks to Kate. He gives her a quick eye wink and they both walk over to confront her.

"Dad, can we talk?"

"Honey, you know we can talk about anything and I will not judge you or any situation."

"Dad, keeping an open mind here would be a benefit. Because what I have to say is going to upset you in many ways."

"Alexis, you're beginning to scare me! What's going on?"

"Dad, I think we should be sitting for this conversation."

"Kate, would you sit with us too? You could be like a buffer."

They all take seats Rick sitting on the loveseat, Kate sitting opposite him on the couch and Alexis remains standing between the two of them. This will not be easy she can already sense the tension between the two of them. And when she drops the F-bomb they're going to be completely stunned.

"Dad, Kate, I know you both remember Pi, but what you don't know is that he ended up dumping all his debt on me. Now keep in mind that I had just leased the apartment with him and we broke up shortly after that. The money for the lease I was able to take care of with the tutoring jobs that I worked after school. But after a couple of months, I was in too deep with all of his debt. I had creditors and bill collectors calling at all hours of the day and night. It put me in a position to find a different source of employment. This employment involved going out on dates getting paid very well for it."

"Alexis, what do you mean?" Kate asked her.

"Kate, I answered what I thought was an innocent ad. At first, it started off with just dinners and plays and just enjoying each other's company."

"I already don't like where this is going." Rick said.

"Dad, please this is hard enough."

"I'm sorry pumpkin."

"So, at first I was able to tutor, go to school and work with this agency."

"Agency? Alexis, please tell me that this is not one of those Eastside places?"

She can only look at her feet telling Kate that's exactly where she was working.

Rick just gives her an alarmed look.

"Rick, the agencies on the East side are notorious for keeping women in situations that they don't really need to be in."

It's then when Alexis realizes that she has been cheated out of more than just money.

"Sweetie, you don't have to tell me this, and that's alright. But I need to know."

Alexis nods to her giving her the okay to ask.

"Did you have sex with any of these men?"

"Yes. I did. But it was all consensual Kate."

"Alexis, I'm not saying that it wasn't. But the fact that the agency kept sending you out on these jobs specifically, they were condoning prostitution. We will go after them and take them down."

Alexis risks looking at her father. What she sees breaks her heart. She knows that she is the one who did this to him and there is no way that she could ever make what they had together right again. Her heart shatters a little more when he looks her in the eye and she sees the trail of tears streaking down his face.

Kate can only stay silent as she watches them together. She knows why. Rick has lost everything wholesome about his little girl, but in time he'll get through this.

"Alexis, whatever you needed I would have given you. Anything at all honey. You must have known this?"

"Dad, I know. But I had to do this on my own. I'm only trying to be independent. This was the only way I could get out from under this and still regain some pride."

"You are _never_ going back!" Her father insists.

"I don't plan to."

 **A/N: Short final chapter to follow.**


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a rough road but she had made it. She is finally free from Anne and her agency. Her stepmother had the smarts to get warrants issued for the arrest of her ex-boss and most of her staff at the Elegant Touch Escort service. Not only had her step-mother secured the end of the escort agency she had worked for, she was able to shut down and added three more escort services as well. Her name was associated with their downfall because of the indictments over her old agency. Alexis was still getting grief from the now unemployed escorts due to the fact that they were now out of a job. But there was a choice few that had praised her for doing the right thing. These were happy that they no longer had to make a living by lying on their backs. And for that she was happy.

Xx

She had taken up her dad on his offer to help her with the lease, and in the end, his lawyer had served Pi with enough red tape in the form of lawsuits to keep him busy for the next ten years. He could now go fuck himself and his bees! She wanted never to hear from him as long as she lived.

Xx

She readjusted her gown once again to stop it from bunching up. She looks at herself in the mirror. What she sees is all the hard work and sacrifice it had taken to get here, and she's proud of what she has accomplished in such a short time. Three years is short, but she is finished. Tonight, she will graduate with honors no less, as a doctor of medicine.

Having the new-found support of her family, she had decided to finish up what she had started before being conned into becoming an escort. She has her father and Kate to thank for that. They believed in her when she thought that she was nothing less than a common criminal.

She then remembered when the Lieutenant that had removed the arrest from her record all those years ago.

He had been involved in a compromising position with a straight-out hooker, not even an escort. He propositioned a cop posing as a hooker on the corner of 12th and 56th streets. Now he thought was a good time to play his "get out of jail free card" but with her daughter coming clean and telling her mom what happened that night in the Mid-town precinct, he was left hanging out to dry! He was subsequently fired from the force. The city was cracking down on cops trying to skirt around the law and get away with it. He was one of many causalities.

Xx

She is just about finished with getting everything ready for this afternoon when her mom walks into her room.

"So, my daughter the graduate! I'm so proud of you Alexis!"

"There is no way I could have done this without you. I really do love you."

"Alexis, I'm so glad that you were able to move on to become what you've become. And to me, that is an accomplishment within itself. You are so strong."

"Thanks, mom!"

"Enough of this! Let's get going, I'll bet that your father is chomping at the bit by now wondering what is taking us so long."

By the time they are seated, Alexis is taking the stage to give her valedictorian speech. She gives it with a flair that Kate knew that she had possessed. Soon, the ceremony is over and they are heading home.

When they get back to the loft Rick takes his baby girl into a gentle hug and says "I never doubted you!"

"Thanks, dad."


End file.
